England pushed into the corner at 49/3
Mumbai, Dec 11 (IANS) England were under pressure at 49/3 in their second innings at tea, trailing by a massive 182 runs, against India on the fourth day of the fourth Test here on Sunday.
England skipper Alastair Cook (18), debutant and first innings centurion Keaton Jennings (0) and Moeen Ali (0) were dismissed. Joe Root was unbeaten on 30 along with Jonny Bairstow. England posted 400 in their first innings.
India pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1-11) dismissed Jennings in the very first over of England’s second innings to start their slide.
Their grief deepened when left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja (2-13) accounted for both Cook and Moeen Ali to leave India in a very strong position.
Earlier in the day, India skipper Virat Kohli (235) scored his third double century of the year, and together with Jayant Yadav (104) helped the hosts to amass a huge first innings score of 631 runs.
Kohli earlier this year scored 200 against the West Indies and 211 against New Zealand. He became the fifth man to post three double centuries in a year, joining Austraian legends Donald Bradman (1930), Ricky Ponting (2003), Michael Clarke (2012) and New Zealand great Brendon McCullum (2014).
He also topped 2,500 runs across all formats in a year — in 2016, only the 11th player to do so, and the first man to score a double century in three consecutive series.
Kohli continued his supreme form from where he left on Saturday, leading India’s charge to swell the lead. He and Jayant Yadav resumed action at 451/7, a lead of 51 runs, and continued to dominate.
At the stumps on the third day, Kohli was unbeaten on 147 and Yadav not out on 30, an unbroken 87-run stand.
India scored 128 runs in 29 overs in the first session of play without losing a wicket.
The Kohli-Yadav pair batted authoritatively on Sunday morning, Kohli hitting 25 boundaries and a six in a 340-ball knock. Yadav struck 15 boundaries to his credit during the 204-ball innings.
Their eighth-wicket partnership blossomed to 241 runs, giving India a handsome lead and forcing England to crumble at the weight of their huge deficit.